Son of Goku and Chi-Chi introduced in the Z series, and a half-Saiyan (the only one seen starting off life having a tail like Goku did). At first he was just a little crybaby with hidden strength, but under the tutelage of Piccolo and his experiences in battle, he turns into quite an accomplished warrior. However, despite his potential and in noted contrast to most to the cast, he hates violence and would rather be a scholar than a fighter.

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Accidental Pervert: He saves a girl named Lime from drowning by holding her chest from behind when he flies her to safety.

The Ace: Gohan excels at just about everything except social skills. He's incredibly smart, having scholar level intelligence, while being one of the Earth's strongest heroes. Even at kindergarten-age, Gohan doesn't hesitate to stand up to opponents much stronger than him if it means protecting his loved ones, and is able to land blows on Vegeta and Freeza. One of his best moments come when he destroys Cell, an android with the abilities of the strongest fighters in the universe, at the age of eleven, nine in the manga. His father was nowhere near as strong as Gohan at that age. He also has the potential to become the strongest fighter in the universe if he only applied himself, but he prefers to live a peaceful life and save people as a superhero.

Action Dad: Once he becomes a father. He's almost always one of the first on the front lines, whether he's kept up with his training or not.

Acting Unnatural: Gohan's attempts to appear normal at school are quickly undermined by the fact that he doesn't really know what counts as normal for most people and is very conspicuous about what he hides. In the manga, Videl manages to figure out a fair chunk of his secrets overnight due to slip ups such as suspiciously withholding his family name when introducing himself.

Adaptation Personality Change: How eager Gohan is to train and fight alters between the anime and the manga. In the anime, Gohan is often shown excited and eager to train to the point of sneaking off when he's supposed to be studying. There are also heavy hints that Gohan being a scholar is all Chi-Chi's idea. In the manga, Gohan only wants to train and fight to protect others and hang out with his dad and Piccolo, and it isn't something he particularly likes doing. It isn't until the Cell Games where Piccolo spells out that Gohan doesn't like to fight and Gohan doesn't have the stomach to kill someone even as evil as Cell does the anime and the manga line up that Gohan doesn't really want to fight and only does so because he has to.

Adorably Precocious Child: As a kid. He fought on the battlefield along with the other protagonists against the Saiyans, Freeza, and Cell. He also traveled to another planet when he was five.

Adorkable: Even as an adult, he remains a nerdy dork, but still very cute.

Aesop Amnesia: During the Buu Saga, he's lectured about how because he stopped training after the Cell Saga, he's gotten weaker and his skills have decayed, hurting his ability to protect his friends and family. Despite this, he still fails to keep up with his training, and by the time of Resurrection 'F' and the Super adaptation of the same story, he's been reduced to a mere shadow of his former self who can barely maintain Super Saiyan and is completely helpless against Frieza, who's more powerful than ever; he finally learns his lesson in Super after Frieza is dealt with, asking Piccolo to retrain him.

All-Loving Hero: Like Father, Like Son. He is actually more all loving than his father. He hates hurting people and will only fight when he has no choice. He also goes out of his way to look for people to save, hence why he became Saiyaman, while Goku only help those who happens to be around him at that moment.

Whenever something happens to Goku that keeps him from dealing with the current threat, Gohan tries to fill his shoes. He distracts Vegeta while Goku hands Krillin the Spirit Bomb and was the one who ended up defeating Vegeta after turning into a Great Ape. He went to Namek with Krillin and Bulma since his father was gravely injured, and was the one who killed Cell.

After Gohan got power-up by Old Kai, he was seen as the last hope in stopping Buu. It gets Subverted since Buu absorbs Gotenks and Piccolo to undermine Gohan's newfound power and is eventually absorbed himself.

In the Garlic Jr Saga Filler, Gohan takes over as the primary defender of Earth and is the one who defeats Garlic Jr. and all his minions since his father is still in space. Piccolo lampshades this by saying that they did need Goku, and he was right there with them within Gohan.

This, like everything else, gets Deconstructed in History of Trunks. Gohan tries to fill the role left by his father after he dies, but falls severely short because of his inexperience and lack of self-confidence in being the hero.

Alternate Identity Amnesia: Like his dad, he has no memory of turning into a Great Ape. Thankful, unlike his dad, he didn't kill anyone.

Anger Born of Worry: When Goten nearly gets himself killed while on a dinosaur's tail and Gohan has to save him, he snaps big time.

Arch-Enemy: Gohan has Cell who is what Frieza is to Goku. Gohan comes to hate Cell for killing so many people in his quest to become perfect and torturing his family and friends just so he can unleash his hidden power and give Cell a good fight. The final straw comes when Cell crushes Android 16's head, permanently killing him. Things become even more personal after Cell kills his father and murders Future Trunks. Cell also sees Gohan as this since Gohan utterly humiliated him and caused him to have a mental and physical breakdown.

Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: He is never this and always does his best to fight... until this trope comes into play during his fight with Cell, when he gets the upper-hand after being angered to power up, to the exasperation of everyone there trying to reason with him to just kill Cell already, Gohan keeps toying with Cell, giving him enough time to pull underhanded tricks to shift the battle to his favor, which makes Gohan get a My God, What Have I Done?.

The Artifact: Usually, when he uses the Father-Son Kamehameha in games, he does it one-handed like he did against Cell. That said, the only reason he did it that way against Cell is because his other arm was broken.

Artistic Age: Look to the right at the pic and then realize he's supposed to be nine years old (physically ten) there as a Super Saiyan. He's even regularly called "Teen Gohan" in the video games. Justified in that Saiyan physiology allows for growth spurts that are unique to each Saiyan and that recuperating from near-death experiences causes the Saiyan body to adapt to better survive.

The Atoner: The main reason Gohan insisted on going to Namek; he feels he let the others down during the fight against the Saiyans, as his failure to follow through on a combo Meteor Move against Nappa indirectly resulted in Tien's death and Piccolo shielded him against Nappa's blast.

Atrocious Alias: "The Great Saiyaman?" Really, Gohan? Then again, he did make it up on the spot.

Audience Surrogate: Gohan is the sensitive, down to Earth every-boy that the audience can easily relate to amongst all the warriors.

Badass Bookworm: In his adult years. He became a scholar and is still one of the strongest in the universe. He was also this as a teenager, being a straight A student and able to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Majin Buu after his power-up.

Badass Cape: Gets one like Piccolo's for the Cell Games. He also had a superhero style one as the Great Saiyaman.

The Berserker: Became this in his Super Saiyan 2 state, most notably in Cell's fight. Although very downplayed considering that he only took this viewpoint towards Cell and Cell alone, saving the lives of everyone around him and helping Future Trunks and the rest of the group back on their feet.

invoked Experienced this in the seven years of peace after the Cell Games, as clearly shown in his fight against Dabura. When the audience is introduced to Capsule Corp. again after the timeskip, Vegeta merely glances at him, and is the first one to notice. And he calls him out for it on two separate occasions. He later fixes it, though.

By the time of Resurrection 'F' Gohan states he's barely able to become a Super Saiyan because he didn't train again. He is still able to beat up Frieza's men without any trouble.

In the retelling of Resurrection 'F' in Dragonball Super his lack of training has more dire consequences than it did in the movie. Although he is able to handle Frieza's strongest soldier with ease, his inability to do anything against Frieza leads to Piccolo getting killed protecting him, causing Gohan to have a Heroic B.S.O.D.. At the end of the saga he asks Piccolo to train him again so he can undo this trope.

Badass in Distress: Despite becoming the most powerful unfused hero by the end of the Buu Arc, he is absorbed by Buu and needs to be rescued by Goku and Vegeta.

Bag of Spilling: He loses access to his Ultimate form because he stopped training again. In Super, he wants to train again so he can protect his family from people like Frieza.

Battle Couple: When teaming with Videl as Saiyaman and Saiyagirl, respectively.

Beware the Nice Ones: His opponents learn the hard way what happens when Gohan is pushed to his Rage Breaking Point, especially as a Super Saiyan 2 Gohan and later his Ultimate form which is even more powerful.

Beware the Silly Ones: Gohan when he is dressed as the Great Saiyaman. Yes, he looks like a dork spouting superheroes' cliches and striking poses that would make Captain Ginyu proud. However, this is the still the same person who blew Cell into dust, even if he is a little weaker from slacking off.

Big Brother Mentor: Krillin was this to him growing up, he even called him bro. He is slightly less so to Goten and Present Trunks.

Big Damn Heroes: Pulls this from time to time. He came just in time to save Goten, Trunks, and Piccolo from Super Buu after Gotenks' fusion broke.

Big Eater: Inherits his father's appetite, although he doesn't eat nearly as much until he becomes a Super Saiyan. Even then, he isn't as food motivated.

Big "SHUT UP!": In the manga and the Kai Dub, he yells at Chi-Chi to shut up.

Blood Knight: Subverted. Gohan doesn't like fighting like his father and doesn't care for hurting people, which hinders his ability to bring out his full power. At the same time he does enjoy the sport of fighting and sparring with his loved ones.

Born Winner: He has by far the most fighting potential of the entire cast and could become the strongest character in the series if he wanted to. He is also pure-hearted like his father and has an even nobler heart than Goku since he goes out of his way to look for people to save. Ironically, having been raised as a somewhat normal kid who goes to school instead of Raised by Wolves like his father or fed Saiyan doctrine like Vegeta, he instead becomes the weakest of the three adult Saiyans, but with a much better home and family life.

Boring, but Practical: "Mystic" / "Ultimate" Gohan doesn't look flashy (he doesn't even go Super Saiyan), but goes even beyond Super Saiyan 3 in power (and reaches close to supressed Super Saiyan Blue in Super) and doesn't require Gohan to spend energy or put any strain on his body to use it.

Break the Haughty: Gets hit with this heavily after his transformation into a Super Saiyan 2. His false belief that Cell had no way to hurt him anymore led him to drag the fight out, which eventually resulted in the deaths of both his father and later Trunks. And then after Cell returns, he's immediately assuming he'll have the upper hand and won't have any trouble avenging Goku's death. Cue Vegeta's ill-fated Roaring Rampage of Revenge and Gohan ultimately letting one of his arms get broken in order to save Vegeta's life.

Brilliant, but Lazy: Has (by far) the most natural fighting ability out of the entire cast, but he doesn't share his father's love of fighting and usually won't bother to train unless there's a threat. Because of this, he actually gets weaker after the Time Skip. Vegeta chews him out for it, although, being DBZ, he eventually gets a new powerup anyway. Gohan is perfectly capable of applying himself to the things he likes, and he's also perfectly capable of applying himself to fighting if he has a reason to. However, after Goku's fight with Toppo during the Zen Exhibition, the show's brief excitement for the upcoming Tournament of Power, likely due to his Saiyan heritage and desire to impress Goku.

After Piccolo is murdered by Nappa, Gohan pulls all his remaining power into one powerful attack to avenge his mentor. It is easily deflected by Nappa and the attack only made his hand numb.

With Recoome, Gohan kept fighting despite being badly outmatched, using every technique and attack he knew. He gets his neck broken for his trouble, but he buys enough time for Goku to finally reach Namek.

Gohan gets the last blow against Vegeta, forcing the Saiyan to retreat. His dad is badly injured, and his mentor is dead and cannot be revived since his death also meant the death of the Dragon Balls. He also feels guilty for acting cowardly, which led to Tien's death.

With encouragement from his father from beyond the grave, Gohan finally kills Cell once and for all. However, Android 16 cannot be wished back since he was never really alive to begin with and Goku chooses to remain dead for everyone's protection, forcing Gohan to break the news to his mother.

Brought Down to Badass: In Resurrection 'F', Gohan mentions that he's neglected training for so long that he can only use the base Super Saiyan form, and wasn't even sure if he could do that much. Even so, he easily takes down most of Frieza's army by himself. In the Dragon Ball Super adaptation, it's shown that he really can't keep the form up and he has to quickly take out Captain Ginyu-in-Tagoma's body. This is even more obvious given that he's become quite too lanky in appearance, unlike how he used to be well-built.

Bruiser with a Soft Center: After unlocking his full power, Gohan becomes noticeably more masculine and loses his hesitation about killing. He is still Gohan, who hates fighting, prefers living a peaceful life, and loves nature and animals.

Bully Hunter: Especially as the Great Saiyaman. He despises anyone who uses their power to terrorize those weaker than them.

Character Development: He undergoes the most in Z, appropriate to his aging throughout the series. Notably, his entire subplot in the Saiyan Saga revolves around his growth from a cowardly "spoiled brat" to standing up to his fears and being able to fight.

He undergoes a lot of character development in Super. After he was powerless against Frieza, he realizes that he needs to be strong to protect his family again, so he learns to go straight for the kill after Piccolo chews him out for letting Cell and Buu take advantage of his mercy. He later realizes how important his fathers approval is to him and sets out to make Goku proudnote Goku already was proud of him despite Gohan's lifestyle choices, he just often wished Gohan would train more.. This leads Gohan to desire to prove himself to Goku, not by following in his footsteps, but by going in a way his father couldn't.

Cheerful Child: In his childhood years he's a happy and cheerful child, despite the number of tragedies and hardships he's been through, including his father dying twice, watching is other father figure give his life to protect him, and witnessing his Honorary Uncle be blown up from the inside out.

Chick Magnet: In high school, he's quite popular with the ladies. Even as an adult and married to Videl, Gohan picks up female admirers with his genuinely sincere and kind personality. In Super, Cocoa, the leading girl of The Great Saiyaman vs. Mr. Satan, is blackmailed into taking Gohan to spend the a night at her house by Barry Khan, the main star of said movie, in the hopes the resulting photos would ruin Gohan's marriage and have Videl run into his arms. As far as Gohan knows, he is just practicing dialogue with her, and such his sincerity and kindness toward Cocoa changes her mind; even then she could not resist giving him a parting kiss of genuine love as her appreciation, causing poor Gohan to of course fly off in adorable panic. Even applies out of universe, where a number of female fans dubbed him as the ideal boyfriend.

Child Prodigy: In both fighting and academics. Gohan has so much natural fighting talent that his power level was three times higher than his dad and Piccolo's at the age of four. If he trained like his father, he would be the strongest being in the universe. Academically, he was doing Algebra when he was five and gets straight As in high school.

Child Soldier: He was dragged into the Z-Fighters' fights at age four.

Chronic Hero Syndrome: One of Gohan's defining characteristics. He absolutely cannot bring himself to pass up someone in need. This leads to his friendship with Dende, becoming Saiyaman, and his eventual death fighting the androids in the other timeline.

Clark Kent Outfit: Downplayed; his high school outfit looks a little big for him, likely to hide that even after seven years of peace, he still has plenty of muscle. He kind of renders this moot during baseball, however…

Classical Anti Hero: Gohan tries to play the Ideal Hero when he is the Great Saiyaman, but he's much closer to this trope since he's often plagued with self-doubt in himself, has no real love for fighting outside of sport (which greatly affects his power), and often depends on his father and Piccolo to protect him when he screws up (which has cost them both their lives at one point). He still fights to protect the world, despite his shortcomings.

Cold-Blooded Torture: After ascending to Super Saiyan 2, Gohan subjects Cell to this. Instead of killing Cell right away, he slowly takes his time picking the android apart and gives him a vicious "The Reason You Suck" Speech before causing Cell to have an epic Villainous Breakdown, both mentally and physically. This, however, came back to bite Gohan in the rear since the resulting breakdown caused Cell to attempt to Rage Quit.

Cool Big Bro: To Goten. His little brother absolutely adores him and thinks his Saiyaman outfit is awesome.

Costume Evolution: When he first became the Great Saiyaman, he initially wore an orange helmet with a black visor to mask his identity. He later swapped it out for a white bandana and a pair of Cool Shades to participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament, since the rules forbid armor of any kind, and keeps them afterwards.

Cower Power: When he was introduced, he could be seen hiding behind his father's leg, especially when Raditz came.

Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Much like his father, he has an easy-going, innocent demeanor with a dose of dork. However, he is among the strongest in the universe and could become the strongest if he desired. And let's not get started on what happens when he reaches his Rage Breaking Point.

Cruel Mercy: Discussed: In Super, after defeating Captain Ginyu in Tagoma's body with relative ease, Gohan decides to spare Ginyu, telling him to get lost. In this case, Gohan is sincere in his mercy, but the sight of him doing so reminds Frieza of Goku's Cruel Mercy towards him back on Namek and triggers a massive Freak Out!. He personally steps into the battle, and blasts Gohan with Beam Spams until he's left crippled on the ground.

Cute Bruiser: He was one of the strongest fighters on Earth when he was just five and he destroyed Super Perfect Cell at the tender age of eleven, nine in the manga.

Death Glare: Gohan's Super Saiyan 2 is made of this. His "Ultimate Gohan" appearance also has this as his default expression, as Lampshaded by Piccolo.

Decoy Protagonist: In the Buu Saga, it's established that he has taken over his father's role as the key protector of the world (as the finale of the Cell Saga supported). In the manga, the beginning of the Buu saga even starts off with Master Roshi saying that the series will continue "just a while longer" with Gohan as the main character, while in the anime, the intro and outro sequences for the Buu saga focuses on Gohan as the lead protagonist. A good chunk of the Buu arc either focus directly on Gohan or a good amount of side-character stalling while Gohan trains on the Kai Planet to awaken his dormant powers, presumably arriving at the last minute to save the day much like how Goku was previously portrayed. However, Gohan ends up being absorbed by Buu, leaving his father to take over as The Hero once more for the remainder of the arc.

In GT where he plays no major role in any of the story arcs outside of being one of Baby's slaves and he isn't even treated as an Elite Mook and acting as a battery to re-power Super Saiyan 4 Goku.

Gohan role in Super is pretty minor, all things considered. While he is one of the fighters during the Battle of Gods and Resurrect F sagas, he is Put on a Bus during the Universe 6 saga, having an important work to do on school. In the anime version of the Future Trunks saga, he is living his daily life, which Future Trunks admires, but is never told about Goku Black rampage on the future until very late in the arc, and he doesn't appear at all i the manga version until the end, being the reason Future Trunks goes back to the future. He does, however, has his Day in the Limelight with his mini arc and goes back to prominense as a warrior for the Universal Survival Arc, even among the first characters to fight along Goku and Majin Buu.

Despair Event Horizon: Gohan comes dangerously close to this after Goku sacrificed his life to save Earth because he was too focused on revenge to kill Cell right away. He falls into further despair after Cell returns, cripples his arm, and is about to blow up the solar system. Only Goku talking to him from the grave brought him back to his senses.

Determinator: As much as his father. Deconstructed by his future self from The History of Trunks; Gohan's refusal to back down cost him his left arm and eventually, his life. This is how he barely gets by in Super after losing most of his power, the standout examples when he nearly killed himself to summon Goku and Vegeta. Later he was able to force a tie with Lavender while his eyes, organs, and limbs were rotting away due to Lavender's poison, which was made worse since he transformed into a Super Saiyan. He luckily keeps the trait after getting his ultimate power back.

After unlocking his full power Gohan is absorb by Super Buu and later killed by Kid Buu when he destroyed the Earth. If Gohan had lived, he would of had an easier time with Kid Buu than Goku and may had killed him without Goku needing the Spirit Bomb.

He gets this in the Champa Saga. He wants to be part of the tournament, but can't because he has a conference that day. During the months after the Frieza invasion, Gohan has been training to get himself back into shape and is only behind Goku and Vegeta in strength. Him being part of the U7 team would have made them stronger and he would have been a variable substitute for Buu after he slept through the intelligence test.

Deuteragonist: Though he's promoted to Protagonist and subsequently demoted to Tritagonist over the course of the Buu Saga. By Super and especially GT he's pretty much Demoted to Extra.

Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: "There is no way I'm gonna let my girlfriend kiss that old relic!" after several instances of denying anything more than friendship with Videl.

Because he did not heed his father's advice and kept torturing Cell, he is taking by surprise when Cell decides to self-destruct. He, like everyone else, also didn't think Cell would return stronger than ever.

He didn't know Buu could absorb people, so he never saw coming Buu taking Gotenks and Piccolo.

Don't Make Me Destroy You: He begs Cell to give up his plans and surrender peacefully, because Gohan knows that if he should enter his Unstoppable Rage mode, he'd utterly annihilate Cell, and he doesn't wish that on anyone, not even a monster like Cell. Cell, however, decides that he wants to see this fantastic power for himself. He gets his wish, and it does not end well for him.

Dork Knight: Has a bad case of Chronic Hero Syndrome, perfect grades, superpowers, and grew up in a tiny, isolated house up in the mountains with absolutely no frame of reference to tell him that no, normal people cannot jump eight meters into the air (it does not help that his mother is also ridiculously strong compared to normal people). Becoming a superhero with really clear Sentai influences really was the only option.

Doting Parent: Absolutely 100% a doting father to Pan. He adores her and regularly dons his Great Saiyaman persona to play with her. His phone background is her picture, and he later is seen turning down a job that would have kept him away from his family, because he would rather be able to spend time with her.

Drama-Preserving Handicap: SSJ2 Gohan was still stronger than Super Perfect Cell. However, him breaking his arm to protect Vegeta brought him down to a level that Cell could fight to a standstill.

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Earn Your Happy Ending: After going through a lot of things that children his age should not have gone through, Gohan ends up living a normal life. He goes to high school and achieves his dream of being a scholar. He then ends up getting married and having a child. In Dragon Ball Online, as a scholar he later writes a best selling book called "Groundbreaking Science" that introduces Ki energy to the general populace of Earth sparking renewed interest in martial arts among the human population.

Emotional Bruiser: Despite growing to be bigger than his dad, who is anime poster boy for Heroic Build, Gohan remains as emotional as ever. Unlike as a child, his softer side is painted in a much more positive light.

Emotional Powers: Gohan become sufficiently stronger when he's enrage since his hidden power is released when he is emotional. He only learns to control this power after becoming a Super Saiyan 2 and later when Old Kai unlocks all his hidden power.

In the manga, we are introduced to Gohan at Master Roshi's house. He politely greets the group by bowing and hides behind his father when Turtle approaches him, showcasing Gohan as a well-mannered, but meek boy.

In the anime, we see Gohan lost in the woods crying and calling for his dad, but he immediately cheers up when he see animals and introduces himself to them. This showcase Gohan as something of a crybaby who is very fond of nature.

Expository Hairstyle Change: Subverted. For Gohan's entire life, it's been a running thing that his hairstyle changes roughly every new story arc, rather than based in his own personal change (although he often does enter a new stage of life in tandem).

Extreme Doormat: Has tendencies of this. When Videl blackmailed him and all the times he ran into Vegeta as a child. Especially one infamous moment when Vegeta lectured him by being brutally honest because of his fight with Dabura. In both situations, he just stood and did nothing instead of standing up for himself.

Family Theme Naming: Son Goku and his sons—Gohan and Goten. Further, the kanji for "ku" in Goku's name (空) means "sky" and the "ten" in Goten's name (天) means "heaven." Later, Gohan ("rice") marries Videl and has a daughter named Pan ("bread").

Father, I Don't Want to Fight: Despite knowing that he is the last hope to defeat Cell and his father's encouragements, Gohan can't bring himself to destroy the android. He doesn't like to fight and, at least in the manga, has never taken a life before. He begs Cell to surrender, but Cell chooses to push him past his Rage Breaking Point to bring out his hidden power. This ends really badly for Cell.

Fish out of Water: Gohan's misadventures in high school. Gohan lived a very shelter life (fighting super-powered aliens and androids notwithstanding) where the only people he's closed to are aliens, powerful humans, and a genius. Him learning how normal people act and behave is a major theme while he's in school.

To his father, Goku. They are both extremely gifted warriors who represent the peak of their groups. Goku is the strongest pure-blooded Saiyan, while Gohan is the most powerful of all the hybrids. They are both also pure-hearted, fun-loving, have a love for animals and people, and are somewhat naive about the outside world. However, they're also both Brilliant, but Lazy — in exactly the opposite ways. Goku loves to fight and challenge himself, while Gohan hates fighting and hurting people, and won't train unless there is an immediate danger. Goku is Book Dumb and doesn't work to support his family, while Gohan is very well educated and has a steady job by the end of Z and into Super.

Gohan to his young brother Goten. They both have many similarities to their father like their pure-hearts, love of animals, their innocents, and fun-loving nature. Goten inherited his father's carefree personality, while Gohan is serious and down to Earth. Goten is quite hyper, while Gohan is very reserved. Goten is allowed to be a child, while Gohan was forced to grow up fast because of the constant danger the Earth was exposed to.

Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible Sibling to Goten's Foolish Sibling. Gohan is the man of the house since his father is dead and he needs to take care of his mom, although he was serious and down-earth even before Goku died. Goten is similar to his father in that he's carefree, irresponsible, and mischievous. Despite being near polar opposites, they both adore each other with Goten hero-worshipping his big brother. Goten does become more polite like Gohan as he grows older, however.

Forced to Watch: Cell makes him watch as his Cell Jrs. beat the Z-Fighters to near-death for the sake of making Gohan reach his Rage Breaking Point and seeing his hidden power. When Cell crushes the still-living head of Android 16 right in front of him, that's the straw that breaks the camel's back...

Foregone Conclusion: Unless the creative team retcon End of Z, no matter how strong a fighter he gets in Super, he'll eventually go back to being a scholar first and foremost. Justified because he only really trains when he needs to, and generally doesn't want to be a typical Saiyan Blood Knight.

Gaining the Will to Kill: Gohan, while being in several life or death fights throughout the series where he usually acted on instinct, (and was never powerful enough to kill enemies on his own outside of filler arcs) was faced with the decision to consciously kill Cell during the Cell games. Despite being brutalized by Cell and watching him torment all the other Z fighters and threaten the planet, Gohan doesn't gain the will to kill until Android 16 encourages him that in this instance it's okay before being crushed to death just a few feet away from him. This turning point pushes him into a sustained Super Saiyan 2 form for the first time.

Game-Breaking Injury: During the Cell Games; after Taking the Bullet for Vegeta, Gohan's left arm is crippled, and his power level is reduced to less than half, giving Cell the upper hand.

Generation Xerox: Played With. Gohan is something of daddy's boy, even surpassing Goku in potential, but whose gentle, pacifistic nature ultimately drives him to abandon his father's fighting legacy. Which makes him an xerox to his grandmother, Gine, who also chose to abandon fighting because of her gentle nature.

Genius Bruiser: He is incredibly bright, topping his class in high school, but for a while was the strongest character in the series and still remains in the top five or so. In the preliminary matchup to the Universal Tournament: He uses his energy to throw out from Super Saiyan to form a radar to counteract his blindness

He comes up with a plan to beat Dyspo when both him and Frieza were getting destroyed 2v1. It only didn't go completely smooth due to Frieza's endurance reaching its limit, but they still were able to eliminate him by Gohan preforming a non-lethal Heroic Sacrifice to hold him down that wouldn't have been possible if Gohan hadn't thought of the plan.

Genre Blindness: Gohan runs into this since he tends not to train during times of peace. While understandable since he doesn't like to train and fight like his dad or Vegeta, you would think keeping in shape and maintaining his current strength would be a somewhat high priority given how many times the Earth has been in danger. Even worse, even after the Buu Saga, he still slacks off to the point that he can't reached his Ultimate form, leaving him woefully unprepared when Frieza returns. In Super, it seems he finally learns his lesson and trains with Piccolo.

The Gift: Even among his fellow hybrids, Gohan possesses the most fighting potential and could trump many fighter in the series. In the Universal Survival Saga, after some training with Piccolo and overcoming his mental block, he not only regains his Ultimate form but he gain power that rivals Goku as a Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan.

Glass Cannon: When he gets mad his latent powers are temporarily released resulting in a massive strength increase, but a good solid blow usually brings him out of it.

After learning of Gohan's hidden power, which only surfaces when he goes into an Unstoppable Rage, Cell does everything he possibly can to push Gohan to his breaking point and unleash said hidden power for the sake of a challenge. He succeeds, and Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 and beats Cell senseless, even taking the time to remind him that him going all out is exactlywhat Cell wanted.

On the good guys' side, Goku's entire plan to defeat Cell hinged on Cell pissing Gohan off enough to unleash his hidden power. It works a little too well; Gohan does indeed get the power to defeat Cell, but Goku never anticipated that Gohan, in a state of Revenge Before Reason, would deliberately prolong the fight just so he could humiliate Cell and make him suffer even more, which eventually causes Cell to flip out and try to destroy the Earth.

Good Is Not Soft: Gohan is very easygoing like most in his family, and unlike his dad he hates violence and prefers to fight only for sport. That is not to say he won't beat the ever-living daylights out of you if your hurt those he cares about. Cell and the Cell Jrs. learned this the hard way. Not to mention the smackdown he laid on Super Buu and even Frieza when properly provoked.

Good Parents: He is extremely loving towards Pan. He passes up a high paying job so he wouldn't be away from her and dresses as Saiyaman when playing with her. Although, he admits that he spoils Pan too much, but can't stop himself since she's so cute.

Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Normally as a Super Saiyan, but subverted as a Super Saiyan 2 where he drops his restraints and holds nothing back against Cell or the Cell Jr.s afterwards.

Handicapped Badass: Gohan breaks his arm and hand against Super Perfect Cell turning him into one of these on the Kamehameha Struggle.

Hard Work Hardly Works: Averted. While Gohan is indeed a talented prodigy and has the potential to become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, he, like Goku, has to constantly train for his power, and is explicitly noted in both the Buu Saga and Resurrection 'F' to have gotten much weaker due to lack of training.

Harmful to Minors: This guy saw his dad die at four years of age, and was exposed to the horrors that come along fighting with the protagonists at five. This led to not following up on a comboMeteor Move against Nappa, and panicking behind a rock, with Piccolo later chewing him out because of it, nearly dismissing him note As Piccolo was born basically to avenge his father/himself and kill Gohan's dad, it kinda makes sense why he couldn't understand why Gohan ran away., whilst Krillin was more sympathetic and understanding. He later grows out of his fear by the end of the Vegeta arc, battling alongside his senior warriors with guys like Freeza and Cell.

Has a Type: On top of Super revealing an attraction to strong willed women hardwired into his Saiyan genes, a factor that hints at his growing relationship with Videl is her cutting her hair for him (thinking he has a thing for short-haired girls).

The Heart: Shares this role with his father, Goku. Their positive outlooks on life and their gentle, but powerful natures help change almost everyone in their group into better people. Piccolo says several times throughout the series that Gohan is one of the only reason why he isn't like Vegeta.

The Hero: He was originally meant to replaced Goku as the main hero after his death to Cell. However, Toriyama felt that Gohan wasn't suitable for the role and brought Goku back. In a later interview, Toriyama admitted that he noticed that Gohan was much happier being a scholar than he ever was being a warrior.

Heroic Build: After he gains his Ultimate form, Gohan becomes noticeably more muscular to the point that he surpasses his father. Before then, Gohan had a more lean build. He loses this build after he loses access to his Ultimate form due to neglecting his training.

Heroic Lineage: He is the son of Goku, a man who've saved the world three times before he was even born.

Heroic R.R.O.D.: Not long after Piccolo is killed protecting him in Super, Gohan pours his remaining energy to signal his father so he can teleport to Earth.

Heroic Sacrifice: Nonlethal version; this is how he gets taken out of the Tournament of Power. He grabs Dyspo and lets Frieza ring them both out, in a manner not unlike his father's first death against Raditz.

Gohan thinks really highly of his dad. It's to the point that he didn't think it was possible for him to surpass his father, until Goku points out to him how strong he became. Even as an adult he constantly calls Goku the strongest in the universe and the greatest fighter ever, even during times he was stronger.

He also adores Piccolo, saying he admires him almost as much as his dad. Until near the end of the Buu Saga, his gis were based off of Piccolo's clothes. He outright wore a complete copy of Piccolo's gi and cape during the Cell Games.

He's Back: In episode 88, while training with Piccolo, Gohan regains the ability to use his Ultimate form.

Homeschooled Kids: Since he lived hundreds of miles away from the nearest school, Gohan was privately tutored at home until he was sixteen. Sharpner in particular gives him a lot of stick for being a sheltered bookworm.

Hope Bringer: Goku tries to make Gohan into this during the Cell Games in his bid to have Gohan succeed him. He's only half successful. Goku's friends think Gohan is too young to hold such responsibilities and Gohan himself have little faith in himself. Even so, he restores hope in his disheartened friends by standing up to Cell one last time. When Gohan returns after getting his power-up from Old Kai, he is seen as the last hope for the universe against Buu and raises the spirits of Piccolo, Goten, and Trunks. Unfortunately, this is cut short after Buu absorbs Gotenks and he's later absorbed as well.

Horrifying the Horror: After becoming perfect, Cell was completely unstoppable and became The Dreaded to the people of Earth after he announced the Cell Games. This same monster is left shaking in complete terror after Gohan goes Super Saiyan 2 and beats him senseless. Cell is left so horrified that he calls Gohan a monster.

Humble Hero: Much like his father. He saves the world from Cell, but takes no credit for it. He didn't even care that Mr. Satan had been living large off of his accomplishment. He also calls his dad the strongest in the universe, even when he surpasses him during the Cell Games and the last half of the Buu Saga. And when he is saving people as a super hero, he does it in a mask and is fiercely protective of his secret to the point of being blackmailed several times. In his words, he doesn't want his family in the spotlight.

Hunk: Once he unlocks his Ultimate form as a teenager, Gohan gains a Heroic Build that surpasses even his father. His voice, at least in the dub, also becomes noticeably deeper when he's dead serious. And even before he bulked up, he was quite popular with the ladies.

Poor Gohan... First, he loses his father and then his mentor during the Saiyan invasion. He then has to fight a galactic tyrant who nearly caused the genocide of all the Namekians. He also watched his Honorary Uncle and new found friend murdered before his eyes and his recently revived mentor shot through the chest by the same tyrant. After returning to Earth he had to train to get ready for two killer androids that murdered everyone he loves in an alternative timeline, and is thrown into a life-and-death battle against a bio-android by his own father. Gohan didn't have an easy childhood.

Hybrid Power: As a Saiyan-hybrid he has far more inherent power than pure members of either race. He can, in fact, become the strongest fighter in the universe if he so desired.

Heroic Willpower: Even as a kid, his willpower was tremendous. He managed to resist the frenzy of the Great Ape form enough to direct his animalistic fury on Vegeta alone when he and Goku first fought, and despite going Ax-Crazy as a rage-filled Super Saiyan 2, he managed to gain enough of a grip on himself to rein in such a ferocious rage (which mind you is greater than a first-time Super Saiyan's) into a Tranquil Fury, keep his fight strictly between him and Cell as well as take the time to pull innocent bystanders out of the crossfire, when he could of easily gone berserk and killed everyone in the vicinity.

I Got Bigger: Between the end of the Cell Games and the beginning of the Buu Saga, Gohan goes from a child to a teenager. He becomes even taller than his father.

Having grown up with literally everyone in his life having superhuman powers, he doesn't realize that normal people cannot effortlessly jump 30 feet into the air.

He doesn't realize that since common crooks are far less dangerous than Freeza and Cell, Videl can take care of herself in fights with them. Then again, he's right to be worried about her, since she often make mistakes dealing with terrain hazards (cliffs, falling objects) that could easily prove fatal without his help.

I Want My Mommy!: As a kid, when he got lost and when he got kidnapped by Piccolo, you can hear him saying this.

I Warned You: Says this word by word to Cell after becoming a Super Saiyan 2, killing all the Cell Jrs, and putting the fear of god into Cell after beating him senseless. Gohan did warn Cell of what would happen if he made him mad, but those pesky Blood Knight tendencies that Cell inherited from the Saiyans just wouldn't let him pass up the challenge.

Icy Blue Eyes: When he becomes a Super Saiyan 2 the first time, he becomes cold and sadistic, much like his father when he first went Super Saiyan. His eyes also become a more piercing blue, losing the Innocent Blue Eyes he had as a mastered Super Saiyan.

Ideal Hero: He parodies one when he's dressed as the Great Saiyaman. When he's in Super Hero mode, he's a mixture of Power Rangers and Superman with his poses and grand speeches. In reality, he's really a Classic Anti Hero, since he is always bogged down with self-doubt and lives in his father's shadow.

Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Like his father he has a pure heart that manages to turn the former Demon King into a good and honorable person. He can also ride the Flying Nimbus even when he's a teenager.

Incompletely Trained: A large part of why he struggles in the later arcs. Due to Chi-Chi's overprotectiveness and Goku's absence, he's never fully trained himself in the use of his natural abilities.

Infant Immortality: From the Saiyan Saga to the Cell Saga, he was the only Z Warrior not to die at some point. Though he does die during the Buu saga, he's already in his late teens by that point.

Innocent Blue Eyes: Since he mastered Super Saiyan along with his father in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, his eyes are just as innocent as normal. It's not until he becomes a Super Saiyan 2 that he gains the Icy Blue Eyes that the Super Saiyans are known for.

In Spite of a Nail: While it's not as bad as outright losing it, and it did get better eventually, like his Bad Future counterpart, he becomes a Handicapped Badass who, while fighting androids (well, one in the main timeline), becomes unable to use his left arm.

Intergenerational Friendship: He is extremely close with Krillin, who is a year older than his father. During the later parts of the Saiyan Saga and throughout the Namek Saga, they were practically Bash Brothers. Heck, most of Gohan's friends were his father's friends first. Piccolo is still clearly an adult note albeit technically only four years older while Gohan is a child, and Trunks is still a kid into his adulthood.

It's Personal: After Cell crushes Android 16's head this pushes Gohan over the edge. He makes it his personal mission to make Cell suffer as much as possible before killing him. This backfires since it leads to Goku getting killed and Future Trunks murdered when Cell returns. Before Vegeta' recklessly attacked Cell, Gohan expressed happiness that Cell was alive, so he can kill him to avenge his father.

Juggle Fu: In his battle against Cell, upon becoming Super Saiyan 2 in a blaze of glory and awesome, he snatches back the bag of senzu from Cell, gets attacked by several mini-Cells, throws the bag in the air, brushes his opponents away and... casually waits for the bag to fall in his hand, with his near-permanent Death Glare locked on the horizon.

Just a Kid: Although not as much as his father, he was often underestimated as a child. Like his father before him, he quickly proves them wrong, especially when mad.

Kamehame Hadoken: Later learned to do after training with his dad in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

Kid Hero: Was this until the Buu Saga. He helped his father and friends fight against beings such as the Saiyans, Frieza, and the androids, going as far as to kill Perfect Cell.

Lamarck Was Right: When Gohan asked if he can really become a Super Saiyan, Goku answered, 'Of course, you're are my son after all'.

Large Ham: While Gohan is quite shy and mild mannered, he drops all of this the moment he dresses as the Great Saiyaman. He gives grand speeches, strike poses, and even dances in the name of justice.

The Leader: Goku makes Gohan the levelheaded captain of the U7 team for the Tournament of Power. His job is mostly to come up with battle strategies and team formations.

Licked by the Dog: His relationship with Piccolo, who was once the feared Demon King. After befriending him, Piccolo eventually becomes a good and moral person.

Like Father, Unlike Son: Upon meeting him, Bulma is immediately struck by how timid and polite Gohan is compared to his abrasive Wild Child of a father. While his similarities to his father do arise as the series goes on, he always serves as an introverted, duty-driven foil to him.

Like Parent, Like Spouse: Videl is one of the strongest women on the planet, just as Chi-Chi was at her age. The Funimation dub even had Gohan explicitly say that he's never met someone so headstrong and obstinate, "except for my mother." They didn't bother hiding this one. Not only that, but both Chi-Chi and Videl were both immensely more wealthy than their husbands. Chi Chi inherited Ox King's fortune, but by the time the Majin Buu Arc started to roll around, it had started to run out. Then comes Videl...

Lightning Bruiser: In his Super Saiyan 2 form. He gains all the power of an Ultra Super Saiyan, but lost no speed, something Future Trunks notes.

Little Bit Beastly: Like his dad, Gohan was born with a tail. He lost it permanently by the end of the Saiyan Saga.

Living Emotional Crutch: His father is this to him. When Goku isn't around, Gohan tends to have less self-confidence in himself and it's his father's encouragements that inspires him to make one final stand against Cell.

Martial Pacifist: Has the potential to be the strongest person in the universe; hates watching people get hurt. He doesn't mind fighting for fun or sport, and he will take up arms if you hurt someone he loves or an innocent.

Master-Apprentice Chain: Although Gohan trained primarily under Piccolo, Goku becomes his master during the Cell Saga, passing on the teachings of the Turtle School:

Master Swordsman: He eventually starts pulling off some sweet moves when training with the Z-Sword. Even before then, when he had to survive in the wild as part of Piccolo's training, he got good enough with the sword Piccolo gifted him that his regular diet involved steaks made from a T-Rex's tail.

Megane: As an adult, except when serious because outside of fighting, he has a job.

Messianic Archetype: In the original Japanese version of the chapter where he achieves Super Saiyan 2 and saves the world from Cell's genocidal killing-spree ("Son Gohan Erupts!!"), the subtitle blurb of the chapter cover is "Savior, Thy Name is Son Gohan!!" This of course, is changed to "A Great Fighter, His Name Is Gohan" in the English version to avoid offending the religious.

The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: Just like his father, Gohan loses all sense of himself when he becomes a Great Ape. Although, Goku is able to guide Gohan to attack Vegeta during the climax of the Saiyan Saga. Krillin suspects this is because Gohan is half-human and not a full Saiyan like Goku, who couldn't be reached at all once he transformed. Similarly, when Gohan became a Super Saiyan 2, he became a coldhearted and cruel Saiyan warrior, losing all of his gentle traits.

Moment of Weakness: Apparently he considers the moment when he cowered behind a rock instead of attacking Nappa back in the Vegeta arc to be this. Moments afterward, Tien dies, and he blames himself for not being strong enough to prevent it. Worse, Piccolo agrees with him and chews him out even more, nearly dismissing him. Even in the Cell arc in the anime, it's shown that he still feels guilt over this, enough for it, and his other insecurities to push him into a Super Saiyan transformation for the first time.

Momma's Boy: Downplayed. Chi-Chi doesn't make every decision for him in his adulthood, he just has a close relationship with her.

Morality Pet: To Piccolo. More than once Piccolo says he's only a good person because of Gohan.

Nerds Are Sexy: Even when wearing orange pants and heavy glasses! He's been called a nerd in series.

New Powers as the Plot Demands: Gohan's Ultimate form. After accidentally freeing Old Kai from the Z-Sword, Old Kai performs a ritual to unleashed all of Gohan's latent power and pushed them past its limit. This comes off as extremely convenience, especially since Gohan had his potential unlocked before by the Elder Namek, and his unleashed potential pushes him to surpassed almost everyone in the series. On top of that, not only is Gohan's Ultimate form powerful, it has none of the power drain issues of Super Saiyan 3, making it the best power-up in the franchise until Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan.

Given a Lampshade Hanging in the Battle of Gods film. When it's revealed that the prophecy to create a Super Saiyan God requires six righteous saiyans, Piccolo is quick to point out that Gohan and Goten might be the only ones who qualify. Goku, while good and pure-hearted, is obsessed with combat some times to the detriment of those around him, Vegeta was a villain in the past and is the resident Jerkass, and Trunks being too young to have a girlfriend. The last one is obviously supposed to be a joke about how much of a prude Piccolo is being, although Trunks' jerk tendencies would call into question his righteousness.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: After utterly decimating Cell at Super Saiyan 2, leaving him badly wounded and missing several limbs, Gohan decides to hold back and savor Cell's pain and suffering for a bit longer even while Goku and the others urge him to finish the fight, unfortunately giving Cell the time to regenerate and then try to blow up the Earth, leading to Goku's semi-Senseless Sacrifice. Trunks was also killed when Cell returned more powerful than ever.

No Social Skills: In the Great Saiyaman - Buu Arc, Gohan is shown being socially awkward and having issues socializing with his high school classmates, especially girls. He does outgrow this, eventually. Justified, considering how he was basically home-schooled growing up and interacted mostly with adults.

Non-Indicative Name: What's usually called "Teen Gohan" and "Adult Gohan" is actually him as a 9 year old, and a teenager, respectively. Subverted for the latter after the Majin Buu fiasco, though.

No-Nonsense Nemesis: When he goes up against Bojack and his minions as a Super Saiyan 2, he skips the taunting and torture and just proceeds to bifurcate Bujin and Bido and blast Bojack himself off the face of the planet with a minimum of dialogue. And come the Universe Survival Arc in Super, Piccolo trains out the Smug Super tendencies that ailed him against Cell and Buu after they re-obtain his Ultimate form and teaches him to never drop his guard for a second, allowing him to stay up to speed in the fight as well as fight much more competently than before, as we see in his sparring match with Goku.

Not Quite Dead: Got blasted to kingdom come by Buu only to narrowly survive thanks to the Supreme Kai. Everyone thought he was dead.

After saving Gohan and Krillin from Nappa, Goku sends them away so he can fight the much more powerful Vegeta without worrying about their safety. Then when Goku gets into trouble during the fight, Gohan and Krillin returns, saving him.

After Piccolo sacrifices his life to save Gohan, he go through Hell and beyond to bring his mentor back to life. He also rushes Frieza when he almost kills Piccolo.

Gohan yells at his mother after she attempts to forbid him from going to Namek to revive Piccolo. Up to this point, Gohan has never raised his voice to his parents. Then again, Gohan does apologize for his actions in the anime.

He ignores his father who begs him to finish Cell off before he does something desperate. Until that moment, Gohan has always obeyed his father, even more than his mother.

Any time Gohan loses his docile demeanour and intends to kill. It happened when he ascends to Super Saiyan 2 and again when he confronts Super Buu.

Our Werebeasts Are Different: He, like all Saiyans with tails, turns into a giant were-monkey under the light of a full moon. He uses this form to defeat Vegeta during the Saiyan Saga by landing on him.

Out of Focus: After being one of the primary protagonists during the entirety of Dragon Ball Z, his role in GT is little more than a cameo at times. He is also absent during the Champa Saga in Dragon Ball Super.

When he first reached the level of Super Saiyan 2, he outclassed Perfect Cell, who was at the level of the Supreme Kai, and even after seven years of letting his skills rust he could still fight evenly with Dabura, who was only slightly weaker than Super Perfect Cell.

After gaining access to his Ultimate Form, he becomes the first opponent to actually overpower Super Buu handily, who was roughly even with Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks, which forced Buu to absorb Gotenks and Piccolo to regain the advantage. Even then, after Gotenks' fusion time ends Goku muses that Gohan could still beat Buu without resorting to Potara Fusion even with the added power of Piccolo, Goten and Trunks, which was only prevented by Buu absorbing Gohan.

In Super, after retraining himself and regaining access to his Ultimate power-up. When he spares with Goku in Episode 90, he's able to take hits from his father as a Super Saiyan Blue.

Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As a child. By the time he was nine (eleven in the anime) he was the strongest being in the universe before the Buu Saga.

The Pollyanna: A family trait of the Sons family. Despite everything he's been through since he was four, he remains a happy and relatively normal child who has a pure heart like his dad. It is this optimistic view on life that allows him to change Piccolo into a good person. Although, he did lose this trait temporary after Goku died stopping Cell from blowing up the Earth, seeing it as all his fault.

Power Incontinence: At the start of Z, Gohan had great power that far surpasses his father. However, he had no control of it. It only awakenings when he's mad. Even after training with Piccolo, Gohan's true power is tied to his emotional state. He didn't gain control of it until he becomes a Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell Games.

The Power of Hate: His hatred for everything Cell had done is what pushes him to become a Super Saiyan 2.

Power-Strain Blackout: When Gohan first goes Super Saiyan 2, he triggers it for only a second then passes out. This was seen in one of Goku's flashbacks of their training in the time chamber and was the moment that convinced him that Gohan could beat Cell if he could sustain that power.

Protagonist Power-Up Privileges: He is the first to become a Super Saiyan 2 and the only one to receive a power-up from Old Kai, awakening all his latent abilities.

Psychoactive Powers: Especially as a young child; his power is pathetic when scared, but when he's angry, it climbs and keeps climbing to the point where he can almost knock a full-grown Saiyan off his feet. Goku actually exploits this during the Cell Games, knowing that Gohan is at his strongest when he's angry and counting on Cell to make him angry.

Rage Breaking Point: Gohan is an easygoing person like most in his family, but hurting people he cares for or using your power to abuse others is a major no, no for him. With that said, he only truly reaches his breaking point after Cell steps on Android 16's head, killing him. That trauma on top of all Gohan has been through is what causes him to go Super Saiyan 2 and maintain his power outside his standard explosion of rage.

Despite training for a whole year to prepare for the Saiyans, he's boarder line useless against Nappa and has a freak out during a team attack. Piccolo lies into Gohan for being a coward, while Krillin rightly points out that Gohan is five, has never been in a real battle before, and really shouldn't be here to begin with.

Gohan becomes weaker because he doesn't keep up with his training, just like how real world athletics can get out of shape when they stop training.

Just because you have the god-giving gift to do something extremely well doesn't mean you actually like the activity you're gifted in.

He gives an epic one to Goku during their training in the hyperbolic time chamber when he realizes that Goku is holding back his power during their sessions and Gohan is unable to receive proper training as a result. This forces Goku to drop his restraints and fight Gohan at full force.

He gives a brutal one to Cell after ascending to Super Saiyan 2 and started beating him senseless.

Gohan: What are you so afraid of, Cell? Isn't this what you wanted? I warned you. I told you what would happen if you pushed me too far. But you didn't listen. You forced me to awaken my hidden power, and now that you've seen it, you're afraid... because you know that I'm going to destroy you.

Reluctant Warrior: Is this, in contrast to most other Saiyans. He doesn't really enjoy fighting the way his dad and Vegeta do and won't bother training in the absence of an imminent threat from a villain. Taken to a Logical Extreme by the time of the Buu Saga, becoming probably the only character in the series shown to explicitly have gotten weaker since the last arc due to lack of training. He eventually remedies this with training from Supreme Kai, only to fall back into this in Super. By the end of the Resurrection 'F' Saga, however, he begins training again with Piccolo since he wants to become strong enough to protect his family from beings like Frieza.

Reports of My Death Were Greatly Exaggerated: After returning to Earth as Ultimate Gohan, he gets a Big Damn Heroes moment by saving Goten, Trunks and Piccolo from Super Buu. All of them were glad to see him very much alive. Even Buu, who nearly killed him, was himself pleased, for Blood Knight reasons. Although, that quickly stopped when he started kicking his ass...

Retcon: In Z, Ultimate Gohan was just Gohan gaining full access to his massive stores of hidden power (which makes him more powerful than a Super Saiyan 3, but without the massive power drain, and without any form of Super Saiyan). In Super, it was turned into a really powerful, extremely efficient transformation.

Retired Badass: Gohan zigzags. He doesn't actively fight after getting married and rarely trains. However, the moment something happens he is one of the first people on the scene ready to kick butt. After the events of Frieza's revival, he trains again with Piccolo, wanting to become stronger so he can protect his family.

Revenge: When Cell returns stronger than ever from his near-death experience, Gohan is actually happy. He saw it as his chance to avenge his father. Goku even uses his death as a motivator when Gohan lost hope after his left arm is disabled.

Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Cell pulls every trick in the book to push Gohan to his Rage Breaking Point in order to make him into Worthy Opponent. After Cell coldly murders Android 16, who manages to talk Gohan in to giving into his rage, he ascends to Super Saiyan 2 and kicks the shit out of Cell with the same ease as swatting a fly. After Goku sacrifices his life to stop Cell from blowing up the Earth, he stops toying with Cell and finally gets around to obliterating him.

Sadist: Gohan is one of the nicest and gentlest people in the series, even compared to his father. However, when he ascends to Super Saiyan 2 he takes great delight in torturing Cell to death and causing him to have a mental and physical breakdown, to the extent that he deliberately drags the fight out purely because he wanted Cell to suffer more.

Sanity Has Advantages: When he ascends to Super Saiyan 2, Gohan loses a good chunk of his sanity, wanting Cell to suffer for his actions so much that he deliberately drags the fight out rather than finish him off. This bites him in the ass big time when his decision to prioritize revenge and sadism over pragmatism leads Cell to a Villainous Breakdown and to try to blow up the Earth, costing Goku his life.

Sanity Slippage: Gohan's sanity takes a major hit after he becomes a Super Saiyan 2. No one can reason with him, not even his father. He only regain his senses after his father dies because of his actions.

Senseless Sacrifice: In the manga of History of Trunks, Gohan knocks Trunks out despite knowing that he may not be able to stop the androids. Unlike the anime, Trunks is already a Super Saiyan so Gohan dying literally does nothing except leaves Trunks by himself to battle the androids. To add further insult, he gets killed by Android 17 alone, while in the anime he at least puts up a fight against both Androids 17 and 18.

Shadow Archetype: When Cell reaches his Super Perfect form, he is Gohan if he embraced the rage of a Super Saiyan and becomes an uncaring monster who only lives to destroy.

When he first transforms into a Super Saiyan 2, his arrogance rivals Vegeta. He could have killed Cell at any time, but he wanted Cell to suffer for his crimes. So, he slowly and cruelly picked the android apart, just like what his father did to Frieza. Unlike Goku, however, Gohan paid dearly for his cockiness since Cell almost blew up the Earth and it took his father's death to stop it. After that, Gohan's ego quickly deflated.

After getting his power-up from Old Kai, Gohan saw Buu as being no threat, nearly killing him with physical force alone.

Piccolo exploits and lampshades this as his Fatal Flaw during their training in Episode 88 of Dragon Ball Super. While Gohan is powerful, his overconfidence in his power makes him think the battle is already won when it's not, thus giving his opponent the opportunity to beat him.

Vegeta was close to killing everyone on Earth despite being grievously wounded by the Spirit Bomb. Then Gohan regrew his tail, transformed, and nearly crushed Vegeta to death when he landed on him.

He shares this role with Krillin in the Namek Saga. He saved Dende's life who proved vital in activating the Dragon Balls, healing everyone during their battle with Frieza, and saved everyone by using the final wish to bring everyone to Earth. He also successful stole a Dragon Ball right from under Vegeta's nose.

Story-Breaker Power: Gohan's Ultimate form. Once Old Kai unlocks his full power he becomes more powerful than a Super Saiyan 3 and doesn't have the massive power drain. The only thing that surpass it is the much more broken Super Saiyan God form, which has a time limit under normal conditions, and Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan.

And even then, if he decides to train, he can go even further. In Super, Gohan gets back to training after being beaten by Frieza. By the Universal Survival Saga, he regains his Ultimate Form back, with a new catch: this time he's powerful enough to take on a Super Saiyan Blue. Goku has to use his Kaioken to win the fight. It's still not enough for him to be able to beat Dyspo on his own, and even with Frieza's help and a strategy that worked he had to sacrifice himself to get Dyspo off the stage.

Surpassed the Teacher: He does this twice. First with Piccolo, and then with Goku. However, he falls behind Goku after he slacks off during the Buu Saga, but he catches up again after Old Kai unlocks all his hidden power. He then falls behind, again, because he didn't keep up with his training and his father becomes a Super Saiyan God.

Superior Successor: Zigzag. He was born with far more potential than his father, and has surpassed him several times in the series. However, since Gohan has no love for training and fighting, Goku keeps ahead of him (especially after the events of Battle of Gods). However, after some training with Piccolo and getting over his mental block, he relearns his Ultimate form and tests his newfound power against Goku, who he wishes to surpass again. On a whole, his power is on the level of Super Saiyan Blue Goku, but once Goku gets serious and uses the Kaioken he one-shots Gohan, showing that Gohan still have a ways to go before he becomes his father's superior again.

Super-Powered Evil Side: His transformation into a cold-blooded and sadistic Super Saiyan 2 is chilling, to say the least. Also, his transformation into a Great Ape.

Superpower Lottery: His natural gift is so outstanding that he can become the strongest being in the universe. For reference, his power level at four years old with no training was more than double of Goku and Piccolo's. He's only held back by not loving to fight and push himself like his father.

Tantrum Throwing: In the Great Saiyaman Saga, he throws a hilarious (and childish) temper tantrum when the criminals mock his Saiyaman costume and phrases. The criminals are so shocked by his strength that they (reluctantly) agree that his phrases are cool.

In fact, he's got so much innate potential that he is told by Guru that he is capable of unlocking only a small portion of it, the rest of which is later manifested as Super Saiyan 2 and fully unleashed by Old Kai.

After Piccolo helps reawakened Gohan's Ultimate form, he believes that Gohan can become much stronger. He largely succeeds since he can fight somewhat on par with Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan Goku.

Thousand-Yard Stare: He has this expression after he burns through all his energy so Goku can sense his energy from Beerus' planet.

Threat Backfire: During the fight with Cell, he knows that he can beat Cell if he goes into an Unstoppable Rage and warns Cell of this, hoping to get him to back down. However, Gohan fails to consider that Cell is the kind of person who wants him at full strength for the sake of a challenge, and Gohan's revelation just makes Cell determined to keep pushing Gohan to his Rage Breaking Point until he snaps and unleashes his hidden power. Itworks.

Tranquil Fury: Every time he is pushed to his breaking point, the resulting Unstoppable Rages are more deliberate, tempered with a certain but still disturbing level of calm, and usually initiates an absolutely brutal beatdown to the idiot stupid and ignorant enough to push him over the edge.

Gohan has a very bad day at the beginning of Dragon Ball Z. On a trip to see some of his father's old friends, he is kidnapped by his insane evil uncle from space and physically assaulted by said uncle, his father is killed by his then-archenemy in the rescue attempt, he is kidnapped again by said archenemy and told he is going to have to help fight off an invasion by two aliens even stronger than the one who just fought off both badasses combined, he is left to survive in the wastelands for six months with no hope of escape and no tools except a sword and the clothes on his back, and he is attacked by a dinosaur. All of this at the tender age of four.

The Buu Saga isn't kind to him either. On the day his dad comes back for one day to visit, he sees his future girlfriend/wife get nearly beaten to death, has his energy drained to the point of losing consciousness, watched two of his dear friends get turned into stone, fails to beat the person who did it because he slacked-off on training and get chewed out for it, fails to stop Majin Buu from awakening and nearly gets killed by the demon, goes through a long and tedious training process only to return to find every living being on Earth except Goten, Trunks, Dende and Piccolo dead, and three of them get absorbed by Buu who then uses their powers to beat the ever living crap out of him. And to end the day, Gohan is absorbed himself and killed when the Earth blows up.

According to Raditz's scouter, his power level as an emotional four-year-old dwarfs that of trained adults Goku and Piccolo. Unlike the other characters, Gohan is very rarely training to become stronger, per se. Gohan's training is usually about accessing the huge amounts of latent power he already has. As a result, he's rarely shown utilizing different techniques or strategies, he tends to either get tossed around like a rag doll or overwhelm his opponents with sheer brute force. To put into perspective just how powerful he is, after his power-up on Namek, he's exactly the same power level as Vegeta was when he arrived on Earth. Not even six years old, and he's already almost caught up to early-thirties Vegeta, who's been fighting all his life. In a relative sense, this applies into his teens, as well. By the end of the Buu Arc, he is the most powerful unfused character, but his fighting skills are vastly inferior to those of his father or Vegeta.

This weakness in Gohan is highlighted in Super. His inexperience in combat is shown when he loses to Krillin in a tournament style sparring match because he underestimated Krillin's skill set and he had a poor understanding of tournament rules. He then gets manhandled by Piccolo even as a Super Saiyan 2 because Piccolo has a better understanding of battle tactics and knows how to exploit his weaknesses.

Unstoppable Rage: What Gohan's "hidden powers" usually manifest as. While lots of characters get stronger when angry, Gohan's strength skyrockets to absurd levels when it happens to him. Several characters get savvy about this and try to engineer situations that will make him mad in order to take advantage of such power.

Wacky Parent, Serious Child: The Serious Child to Goku's Wacky parent. Although he has his "dork" moments, he is usually portrayed as more serious than his father. He is generally much more "normal." While Gohan is smarter than his mother, him and her come off as more serious than Goku is.

Warrior Prince: Technically, Gohan and Goten are this, as their grandfather is Gyumao (the king of Fry-Pan Mountain), making Chichi, their mother, a princess. (Though, like Trunks, they were never really referred to as a prince.)

We Have Become Complacent: It becomes a recurring problem for him after the Cell Saga, as he lacks the drive to actively train when there's no immediate threat:

By the time of the Buu Saga, he's neglected training for seven years. He struggles against Dabura, a fighter he could easily have defeated had he kept in shape, and is no match for Majin Buu, who beats him so brutally that his loved ones and friends believe him dead. He makes up for it after the Old Kai unlocks all of his hidden power.

He falls into it again in Resurrection 'F' and its subsequent Dragon Ball Super adaptation, where he's slacked off to the extent that he's lost his Ultimate power-up and can barely maintain the basic Super Saiyan state. This bites him in the ass big-time when Frieza nearly kills him with a single punch in the movie, kills Piccolo in the Super adaptation, and blows up the Earth in both versions. Realizing how far he's fallen and that he can't depend on his father forever, Gohan asks Piccolo to retrain him after his revival.

"Well Done, Son!" Guy: Not so much towards Goku, who he loves anyway, but toward his adoptive father, Piccolo. Thankfully, the love is fully returned from the Demon King.

Piccolo rode Gohan hard for chickening out of their combo attack against Nappa. He discouraged Gohan so badly that he was close to walking away in tears.

When Gohan refused to kill Cell when he had the chance, he gets called out by his father.

Vegeta tore Gohan a new one for letting his fighting skills lapse in the seven years after Cell's defeat, all but saying it was his fault that Piccolo and Krillin were still stone.

Gohan has his first one against his father in the Universal Survival Saga. He isn't happy when he learns about the rule of the Tournament of Power, the losing universe will be destroyed, and yells at his father for not having a plan if their universe ends up on the chopping block.

When You Coming Home, Dad?: For the most part, Subverted. Despite Goku's long absences, Gohan has never shown resentment towards his father. The only time Gohan questions when his father was coming back was when he was in space for over a year. When Goku directly questions Gohan if he was mad at him for taking over four years to take him fishing like he promised back in the Saiyan Saga, Gohan just shakes his head.

Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: It's pointed out in both the Cell Saga and Saiyaman Saga that Gohan (which literally means rice) is a pretty ridiculous name to give a kid.

Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: A rare non-villainous example. Gohan has been known to not use his full power to end a contest quickly, largely because he lacks his father's tactical skill and Vegeta's killer instinct. This bites him in the ass on more than one occasion, particularly during the Cell Saga. Though the Cell Example is more an example of Superpowered Evil Side. The worst example of this would probably be when he failed to finish off Buu while he had the chance.

Wild Hair: Unlike his dad his hair does grow, and he has this look a few times as a kid (usually after a long training session).

Willfully Weak: Gohan have the potential to become the most powerful warrior in the entire universe if he wished. But he's a pacifist by nature and only fights when someone needs his protection or for sport. Typically, his true strength reveals itself through Unstoppable Rage.

The Worf Barrage: Happened to him all the time before the Cell Saga. His rage boosts against Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, Recoome and Frieza really only caused them minor inconveniences and were used to show just how dangerous these villains really were.

The Worf Effect: This is actually a reoccurring issue with Gohan since the Cell Saga. This is primarily because once the big threats are taken care of, he completely stops training letting himself get rusty as a result.

Gets one-shotted by Fat Buu, demonstrating that despite his childish appearance, Buu is insanely powerful. In fact, the blow was so strong, it knocked him out, sent him flying miles away, and reduced his ki to below sensory threshold, causing everybody but Supreme Kai to think he was dead.

Happened again, this time against Super Buu after he absorbed Gotenks and Piccolo. He went from destroying Buu with brute force alone to being unable to touch him and nearly being killed.

He is the only protagonist besides Vegeta to actually touch Beerus... and then is instantly Curb-Stomped the moment Beerus notices him.

And in Resurrection of F, Gohan has once again slacked off on his training to such an extent that he can't even use his Ultimate power-up. Nonetheless, he still has a good showing against Frieza's army to the point that Frieza himself notes that Gohan could end things in an instant. Then Frieza shows off how powerful he has become in four months by punching Gohan so hard that his heart stops.

In Super episode 90, he's trained himself and regained his Ultimate power-up, which allows him to take hits from Super Saiyan Blue Goku. Then Goku uses the Super Saiyan Blue Kaio-ken and knocks Gohan out with one punch.

World's Strongest Man: At the end of the Cell Saga, he becomes the strongest character after becoming a Super Saiyan 2. By the end of the Buu arc, he was the strongest unfused character after Old Kai unlocked his full power. However, he fall behind both times because he lacks the dedication to train unlike his father and Vegeta. By the time of Resurrection 'F' he can only go up to a base Super Saiyan. In Super, he's realized how far he's fallen and retains himself with Piccolo, getting back in shape; by the time of the Universe Survival Arc, he's regained his Ultimate power-up, which now lets him gets shots in on Goku's Super Saiyan Blue.

Gohan refused to hurt Videl during the Great Saiyanman saga which pissed Videl off and she even claimed she was looking forward to facing him in the Tournament but she never got the chance. In the games Videl often tells Gohan not to "go easy" in their pre-fight dialogue.

Even in Bojack Unbound with female henchman Zangya. Instead of Super Saiyan 2 Gohan killing her like the rest of the villain team, Bojack kills Zangya himself by shooting a blast through her to get the jump on Gohan.

You Leave Him Alone!: Invoked for the first time to stop Raditz from beating Goku to death, and with spectacular regularity later on.

Your Costume Needs Work: In the anime, he discovers that a film crew is making a Great Saiyaman film. While Gohan is in his Great Saiyaman alter-ego, he's also at his point wearing a bandana and Cool Shades - instead of the helmet he previously had. The director allows him to take part, but berates him for not looking enough like the Great Saiyaman or acting as him. It's only when he flies off the set, ironically during a flying sequence that the studio learned it was actually him.

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